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Success for bid to fund social work innovation in Hampshire and Isle of Wight http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=669817http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=669817
Success for bid to fund social work innovation in Hampshire and Isle of Wight

Tuesday, 03 March 2015

Hampshire County Council and the Isle of Wight Council have welcomed news that an ambitious bid for funding to transform social care services has been successful.

The Department for Education has confirmed today (3 March 2015) that it is awarding Hampshire and the Isle of Wight almost £4 million from its Innovations Fund in order to reform children's social work.

The funding will be used to introduce a series of measures that challenge the traditional ways of working, significantly reducing bureaucracy while improving outcomes for children in need of care and protection, and reducing spiralling demand for children's social services in the longer term.

Councillor Keith Mans, Deputy Leader and Executive Lead Member for Children's Services at Hampshire County Council, commented: "This is excellent news and is indicative of the Department for Education's confidence in our abilities. We have a proven track record of performance, as recognised by two safeguarding inspections by Ofsted, the most recent in March 2014, that found Children's Services to be 'good' with 'outstanding' elements. Our strategic partnership with the Isle of Wight, Council, that was initiated by the DfE to improve Children's Services on the Island, is showing evidence of making good and steady progress in driving up standards both in children's social services and education."

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight bid sets out seven interlinked elements, which taken together have the potential to remodel social care services across the county and establish a new standard of good practice for other authorities to follow.

These focus on the creation of new specialist family intervention teams, making much better use of voluntary support to reconnect with communities and improving the support to social workers so they have more time to spend with vulnerable children and young people.

Specifically, the elements include:

Creating Family Intervention Teams of practitioners that specialise in domestic abuse, substance misuse or mental health for example, to provide a service for adults but with a clear focus on outcomes for the child;

Building a robust network of volunteers to work with children and families in their communities and support the Family Intervention Teams;

Developing a team of highly skilled administrators to become Social Work Co-ordinators to undertake all the recording for Social Workers and reduce the time that they are office based;

Establish a multi-agency Missing, Exploited and Trafficked Team (MET) specifically to address the needs of children and young people who repeatedly go missing.

The driver for systematic change will be a change in focus, by social care services, moving from the sole needs of the individual child to include those of the child's family. For example, in cases where a child is in need of care or protection because of the parent's actions, such as drug or alcohol addiction, providing support to overcome those problems can avoid a child being taken into care long term, if at all.

The grant will also complement the work of Early Help Hubs and the Supporting Troubled Families programme in providing targeted support for families.

Councillor Mans added: "We have consistently afforded a high level of priority to children's social services yet pressures on the service continue to rise and this will be a continuing challenge in the face of further reductions in government funding. Through this bid, our aim is to develop the foundations for a whole system change to create the right conditions and capacity for professionals to work even more effectively with children and families in order to get it right first time and reduce the number of referrals or repeated interventions."

Hampshire County Council has been able to offer 98.4% of parents a place for their child at a secondary school of their choice, with 97.6% being offered a place at their first or second preference school for September 2015.

Councillor Peter Edgar, Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Education, said: "Once again we have been able to offer a high number of pupils a place at their preferred secondary school and that's a significant achievement considering the size of our county. With 82% of our schools ranked as good or outstanding, Hampshire children can benefit from a high standard of education.

"I do understand there will be some disappointment for the very few parents who did not secure a place at one of their chosen schools. Each year we have a handful of schools where the demand for a place is greater than available capacity. I see this as a compliment to the high standard of teaching at these schools."

Pupils who did not secure a place at one of their chosen schools are allocated a place at a school, near to where they live, with available places. Parents have the right to appeal in these situations, and can put their child's name down on their preferred school's waiting list. Places do become available if parents change their mind, or families move home.

The admissions team is now processing primary school applications with offers due to go out to parents on 16 April 2015.

Hampshire County Council is taking positive action to pilot the county's first licensing scheme for A-boards.

The year-long pilot will take place in Andover town centre, where the County Council has recently had to resort to legal action over the placement of A-Boards on the public highway. This followed safety complaints from the public, which the Council has a legal duty to follow up as the Highway Authority.

Councillor Seán Woodward, Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment at Hampshire County Council, said: "First of all, I'd like to say that I am grateful to the majority of the business owners who removed their A-boards following the complaints.

"The idea behind our new licensing scheme in Andover is that controlled regulation will better suit both the businesses and residents by being clear about sizes, dimensions and suitability of locations. We will continue to support the local economy while ensuring that the footways and pedestrianised areas remain safe for all who use them, including those with visual or mobility issues."

The pilot will be run within Andover Town Centre for 12 months, and will be reviewed after the first four months. Businesses will be required to apply for a license which includes a £50 fee to cover the costs of operating the scheme.

Recent figures from the national child measurement programme show that, in England, one in three children in year six is above a healthy weight.

To help families work together to develop sustainable, fun and healthy lives and address issues associated with being overweight a ten week programme for seven to 13 year olds and their families is due to start in Alton on 9 March.

MEND - (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition...Do It!) helps all the family understand the importance of being active and the many fun ways to get active as a family, as well as the complexities of things such as food labelling, different types of food, how much and what types of food you need.

Councillor Liz Fairhurst, Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: "Being above a healthy weight during childhood can lead to serious problems later in life and increases the likelihood of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

"Through the MEND approach children can enjoy active play sessions as well as learn with their family about healthy food choices. Parents are helped to discuss ways to encourage behaviour change such as reducing the amount of time their children spend watching television and increasing physical activity levels. The ultimate aim is to provide a greater understating of food and exercise to empower people to live fitter and healthier lives."

Mr Rohit Kakkar who attended a previous MEND programme in Alton with his daughter Ridhka said: "Team MEND in Alton are brilliant. They made sure that we all understand the benefits of eating healthy food and exercise. They make the programme very inter-active, and provide learning in a fun way. After couple of weeks we realised that most of the time, we were not eating healthy food. We changed our eating habits and the children started doing more exercise. After about 4-5 weeks we saw the positive results for all of us."

To benefit from this free course, your child must be above a healthy weight. If your child is in Year 6 you may have received a letter from your school nurse advising you whether your child is overweight or obese. If you are unsure you can check your child's weight status at www.mendcentral.org/bmi. Families need to commit to the 10 week programme and look to make changes to their lifestyle. To be eligible to attend MEND the child must either live or attend school within the area covered by Hampshire County Council. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Health professionals and teachers can book a family onto the programme by contacting their local programme manager. Families can also book themselves onto a programme directly by contacting the local programme. Full details about the programme and a list of contact details is available on the Hampshire Healthy Weights website.

The Alton programme for seven to 13 year olds begins on 9 March and will take place on Mondays and Saturdays at Alton College. To book a place on this programme please contact Alison Cliffe 01420 542873.

This service is commissioned by Public Health at Hampshire County Council and co-ordinated by Sport Hampshire & IOW.

]]>Thu, 26 Feb 2015 11:28:00 GMTGreatham children say goodbye to the car for a safer, healthier school runhttp://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=669258http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=669258
Greatham children say goodbye to the car for a safer, healthier school run

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Pupils at Greatham Primary School have decided to take action to reduce the problems of traffic congestion on the school run and improve safety for pedestrians outside the school gates.

The village school had extremely low walking rates (as few as 14% of children are currently walking to school on a regular basis), so the school has been working hard to increase the children's awareness of active travel through Hampshire County Council's My Journey initiatives. This has resulted in scooter training for all children, Bikeability training for year 5, a "Biker's Breakfast" for children cycling to school as well as pedestrian training for year 2. The school has also recently acquired two scooter storage pods to enable scooters to be left safely at school during the day.

The school's Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) have been encouraging their peers to walk to school as much and as often as possible, even if they only walk part of the journey. Following a route audit to help them assess a safe walking route to school, the school has persuaded St John's Church and the Greatham Inn to let parents park in their car parks and walk the last five minutes to school, known as 'Park and Stride'. The staff and JRSOs took steps to motivate pupils by demonstrating that parking a little further away from school and walking part of the way not only helps children keep fit but is also fun, making it safer for everyone by keeping cars, and pollution, away from the immediate vicinity of the school.

On Wednesday 25 February, as a reward for the school's work towards a sustainable travel plan, Hampshire County Council organised a 'scientific' themed walk to school from St John's Church in a move designed to get the walking children noticed and to motivate others to join in. This was followed by two scientific theatre shows put together by Histrionics linking the school's chosen theme with sustainable travel messages.

Hampshire County Council's School Travel Planning Team works alongside schools, parents and communities to encourage even more pupils to travel in a sustainable way to school. Recognition for this work comes through the national STARS scheme, run by Modeshift, which was rolled out to all schools in England at the end of 2014. Greatham hope that, in addition to their sustainable travel activities to date, by launching their new Park and Stride sites they will have now achieved Bronze STARS status.

Head teacher and sustainable travel champion Jo Goman commented, "At Greatham Primary School, we value our environment and we value walking. We are encouraged by the number of children persuading their parents to leave the car further away from school so they can walk, cycle or scoot the rest of the way."

Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment, Councillor Seán Woodward, added: "By walking, scooting, cycling and using public transport for school journeys, we can all really help reduce congestion and pollution in the local area whilst increasing the safety of our children, bringing benefits to all and making Greatham an even nicer place to live."

The Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation Scheme) is funded by the Department for Transport's Hampshire Sustainable Transport Towns Fund (HSTT). The objectives of the Government's fund are to reduce congestion at peak times, and to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. These objectives will be met at a local level, through 'My Journey' initiatives to encourage less use of the private car and a more active lifestyle by encouraging walking, cycling, use of public transport or car sharing to travel around, particularly for local journeys.

Hampshire County Council's 'Park and Stride' initiative, supported by the My Journey project, aims to help schools to identify suitable sites for parents to park so that even if they have to drive their children to school, they can at least walk 5 to 10 minutes to school. This helps to keep traffic away from the school gate, making it safer for everyone and so enabling more active ways of travelling, including cycling.

The My Journey project is funded by the Department of Transport as part of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) aimed at reducing carbon and supporting economic growth.

The 'My Journey' campaign, to encourage people to consider their travel options for everyday journeys and to try alternative ways of travelling instead of in their car. Leaving the car at home can save people money, increase their level of physical activity and help to reduce congestion and carbon emissions.

Hampshire County Council Leader Roy Perry said Hampshire is immensely proud to learn that a serviceman from the county has been awarded Britain's highest military honour for his gallantry.

Lance Corporal Joshua Leakey, 27, of the Parachute Regiment has been awarded the Victoria Cross. It recognises his valour when he showed "complete disregard" for his own safety during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan. He is the third serviceman - and the first living serviceman - to receive the medal for service in Afghanistan.

Cllr Perry said:

"The actions of Lance Corporal Leakey deserve our greatest respect. He epitomises the bravery, courage and selflessness of our servicemen from all three military forces in all they do to serve the cause of freedom in battlefields around the world. We are immensely proud that this honour has been awarded to a serviceman from Hampshire, home to the largest contingent of armed forces personnel in the country."

]]>Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:00:00 GMTA bright future for solar power at Hampshire County Councilhttp://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=669021http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=669021
A bright future for solar power at Hampshire County Council

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

The rooftops of one of Winchester's well-known buildings are being used to help save Hampshire taxpayers' money - as Hampshire County Council generates more of its own solar energy.

Elizabeth II Court in Winchester, the County Council's headquarters office, is now topped with 90 solar panels, which are expected to generate around 21.8 kW at their peak performance - equivalent to powering a small primary school.

Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Income and Capital Receipts Cllr Mel Kendal said: "With the cost of energy rising over the long term, it makes sense for the County Council to look ahead and invest in technology where there is a proven long-term saving. The government's feed-in tariff makes solar energy cost-effective if we do it now.

"I'm really pleased it has proved viable to use the roofs of some of Hampshire's biggest public buildings for this purpose - especially when you consider the environmental benefits of renewable electricity, such as the reduction in our carbon footprint, solar energy really is a win on all fronts. I look forward to the results and am confident they will demonstrate a viable business case for installing more panels on many of our other buildings too."

The new panels are part of a programme run by engineers in the Council's Property Services department. It also includes installations on Dame Mary Fagan House (a shared office in Basingstoke) and Hawthorne Court Nursing Home in Sarisbury Green. This project involves the three buildings that will give the fastest return on investment in solar technology due to their size and position. It will help determine the viability of further installations of panels across the Council's estate.

The panels are also set to cut the authority's carbon footprint by reducing its reliance on non-renewable electricity from the grid. This is part of a wider Carbon Reduction strategy which will see consumption reduced by 20% from 2010 to 2015.

Generating solar electricity is expected to reap financial benefits for taxpayers too. Once investment in the panels has been recouped, they will provide long-term free electricity, along with a revenue income to the County Council from the Government's feed-in tariff, which will continue for many years.

The County Council has already installed more than 20 solar panel arrays on schools in the area, which are saving money and generating free electricity as well as acting as a learning resource for pupils.

]]>Tue, 24 Feb 2015 14:09:00 GMTMore and more Hampshire residents becoming part of the 'Superfast Nation'http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=668846http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist.htm?id=668846
More and more Hampshire residents becoming part of the 'Superfast Nation'

Monday, 23 February 2015

The Hampshire Superfast Broadband Programme now has among the top five highest take-up ratios across 44 projects in the UK - with 18% of residents living in areas enabled through the programme already signed-up for an upgraded broadband service.

Internet service providers (ISPs) are already taking orders on more than 160 new fibre cabinets across Hampshire, and residents in over 7,000 premises across the county are now benefiting from improved speeds - thanks to the County Council supported programme.

Chris Pearsall, who runs a commercial photography business in Petersfield, is one of the latest residents to upgrade his broadband service. For digital-based businesses like his, a consistent high-speed connection is key: "The improvement of the reliability of our broadband has been game-changing for us. The speed of uploading large photographs has improved by 75%, which not only allows us to work more efficiently but it also gives us more confidence to expand our business to more international clients."

The improvement has also influenced home life, says his wife Karen: "Our son lives in Glasgow, and previously it wasn't even possible to sustain a voice connection on Skype. Now we can use video at any time of the day. The change was instant from the day we upgraded and it has been remarkable."

In Hampshire, the Government, Hampshire County Council and local partners are providing over £29 million of investment to ensure that more than 97,000 additional homes and businesses across the county can get access to superfast broadband.

Through this investment, Hampshire County Council contracted BT to provide the infrastructure, and that agreement includes a clawback mechanism. This means as more people take up the service in the areas covered by the programme, more money comes back to be reinvested into the Hampshire programme.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Roy Perry, said: "It is wonderful to hear that our investment is making such a positive difference to the lives of people like Chris - benefiting his work and personal life. Hampshire's programme aims to give more residents the opportunity to sign up to superfast broadband to enhance economic prosperity across the county, and improve quality of life. I will not be satisfied until we reach 100%. We have recently introduced another programme called 'Getting Connected' to help on those new developments being built, where good broadband was not put in from day one.

"We are now well over half way through our first contract and I would encourage everyone who would like to see faster broadband speeds in their home or at work, to visit our website to see if they can benefit, and sign up with their local provider. The more people who sign up, the more we can re-invest in the programme to provide even more residents with access to superfast broadband in the most remote areas of Hampshire."

Across the UK, if take-up of superfast broadband reaches 30% in the areas which have benefited from public investment, then £120 million of taxpayer's money will be paid back to support further investment. At 40% this return would increase to £240 million.

Despite the encouraging numbers of new connections in Hampshire, research suggests that many people aren't aware they can get high speed broadband where they live. Nationally, superfast broadband is now available to around 78% of premises in the UK; yet only 22% of all broadband connections are superfast.

Therefore, to ensure that the take-up numbers continues to grow and translate into future clawback payments, Hampshire County Council is committed to continuously promoting the service to newly enabled areas.

Hampshire County Council is about to embark on a large scale investment of over £2.3 million to improve the transport network in Eastleigh, for the benefit of all those who live and work in the area - drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and public transport passengers.

The co-ordinated and planned approach will see a package of investment with works carried out over the next four months on Bishopstoke Road, Eastleigh train station, the Leigh Road / Passfield Avenue junction and Chickenhall Lane.

All the schemes will be carefully co-ordinated to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum and the benefits of the works -to improve the area, ease congestion and increase safety - are realised as soon as possible.

Overview of the projects:

Bishopstoke Road / Fair Oak Road

Work to replace the retaining river wall, which was knocked down by a vehicle, will start on Monday 16 February for 16 weeks. Bishopstoke Road will be reduced to a single lane controlled by traffic lights between 9.30am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday and between 8.00am and 1.00pm on some Saturdays.

Eastleigh Station

Work to improve accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists at the station forecourt will start on Monday 2 March for 12 weeks. The scheme includes a new toucan crossing for pedestrians and cyclists crossing Southampton Road, as well as upgrading and improving the look of the station forecourt.

Leigh Road / Passfield Avenue / Woodside Avenue

Work to solve congestion and improve pedestrian safety at this junction will start on Monday 23 February for around twenty weeks. The main works will see the junction resurfaced and better signals installed to reduce queue length, controlled pedestrian and cycle crossings east to west across Woodside Avenue and north to south across Leigh Road (W), and extension of the left turn lane on Leigh Road (W) and extension of the nearside lane on Leigh Road (E). Most of these works are on private land allowing the junction to stay open throughout.

Resurfacing Chickenhall Lane

Work to resurface Chickenhall Lane, under Operation Resilience, will take place over two weekends on 6-8 March and 13-15 March. The work is part of Hampshire's long term strategy to make the county's roads more resilient to the effects of extreme weather and heavy traffic and increase the life span of the road.

Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Economy Transport and Environment, Councillor Seán Woodward, said: "Good roads are essential for Eastleigh's economic prosperity, infrastructure and quality of life, but above all these works will improve safety for all road users. Work on this scale will inevitably cause some disruption which is regrettable but unavoidable if we want to see results which all residents and local businesses can benefit from."

Hampshire County Council has welcomed a planned electoral review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Members of the Council were briefed by the Commission on Thursday 19 February as part of their preliminary work.

The review has been prompted by electoral data from 2013, indicating that in a third of all the County Council's 75 electoral divisions, there was more than a ten per cent difference (plus or minus) in the number of electors compared to the average for the county.

Following the briefing, Chief Executive, Andrew Smith commented: "It's been ten years since the last review, and in that time, demographic changes have seen an increase in the electorate in some areas of the county, leading to an uneven balance, with some councillors representing more Hampshire residents than others.

"It is vitally important that all voters are adequately represented on the County Council, and that the identities and interests of local communities are suitably reflected so that we can continue to ensure effective local, county government and maintain our strong performance in meeting the needs of Hampshire residents.

"For that reason, we very much welcome this review, and would encourage all residents and other stakeholders to have a say when the Boundary Commission goes out to public consultation from May to August. The Commission has indicated that they will consult fully with Parish Councils and would welcome comments from other groups as part of the consultation exercise."

The Boundary Commission is due to publish its draft recommendations between November and January 2016.

A budget that will inject hundreds of millions of pounds of new economic activity into Hampshire was finalised by Hampshire County Councillors today.

The Budget for 2015/16 includes a Capital Programme representing £876m spend over four years - the biggest ever investment in jobs and supply chains. It provides resource and capacity to deliver more and better schools places, improved roads, Extra Care homes and superfast broadband.

Council Leader Roy Perry said it was a "careful, cautious and competent budget". It will keep Hampshire in a strong position to tackle the further austerity measures needed to meet the ongoing downward pressures on Local Government funding over the next few years, when revenue savings will become very much harder to find.

Starting early and using transformation programmes to generate significant efficiencies, the Council has worked through a reduction of 51 per cent in general grant from Government since 2010. The job of managing the council's finances had been more difficult than ever.

The revenue budget, which covers the cost of providing services, has had to be reduced by a further 12 per cent in 2015/16 to meet cuts in grant, and to balance demand pressures linked to an ageing population and children in care. As a priority area, additional resources of £12.5m have been built into the Children's Services budgets for vulnerable children in need of support and services. Following consultation, the budget also provides money to sustain the Short Breaks programme for children with disabilities and for youth services, while other sources of funding are explored.

The County's share of the Council Tax has been set at the same level for the sixth year in a row at £1037.88 for a Band D property. The Leader said that, with inflation at 11 per cent in that time, this represented a real term decrease of 9.9 per cent, reducing the call in real terms on stretched household finances.

He said Hampshire County Council was maintaining its record of having one of the lowest levels of Council Tax, while providing some of the highest levels of services and with one of the lowest levels of Government grant per head of population.

"According to Ofsted, our children's services are some of the best in the country. We lead the country in property and shared services, growing an expanded organisation whereby other councils buy increasing levels of professional services from us, allowing us to retain high quality staff and capacity for the benefit of Hampshire residents. The condition of Hampshire roads scores highest with road users, again by independent evaluation" he said.

The Council will need to find further savings of around £100m by 2017, on top of the £240m it is on track to have removed from its expenditure by March 2016 with this budget. The Council will begin consultation in March on a range of options to deliver the right support to residents at the right time and in the best way, which is likely to mean scaling back some areas and doing some things differently. Cllr Perry said more and more partnership working between county, district and town and parish and the voluntary sector was needed to address these pressures.

Referring to the start of work last week on a new £548,000 youth drop-in centre at Ringwood, Cllr Perry said the Town Council contributed to the running of youth services and has contributed £70,000 capital to the new centre. He encouraged other town and parish councils to think if they could do anything to help."Increasingly county funding will have to be targeted at those in greatest need - if local communities want to retain more general provision - and I applaud them if they do - then we all need to be more imaginative and supportive.

"I want the county to help communities, just as we help with the fleet of 70 community mini buses that are operated by councils of community service and parish councils across the county," he said.

Councillor Perry also paid tribute to the commitment of council staff who were having to take on new and different roles. The demography and complexity of adult social care in particular mean that the services and management capacity were stretching the very best talent across different organisations. By expanding its services to other authorities it was offering a future in an organisation that was growing its businesses, growing its capacity and creating opportunities for promotion and personal development.